This application claims the benefit of Korean Application Nos. 97-34850, filed Jul. 25, 1997 and 97-35439, filed Jul. 28, 1997, in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a channel selection method and apparatus of a television (TV) system, and more particularly, to a channel selection method of an advanced television (ATV) system in which a plurality of virtual channels existing in one channel during standard definition (SD) format broadcasting according to the ATV standards are simultaneously displayed on one screen, to allow easier selection of a desired virtual channel, and to a channel selection apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an ATV system corresponding to a high definition television (HDTV) system which is a TV system having improved performance employing digital signal processing, is being developed as a next-generation TV. The SD format broadcasting related to the ATV system has four virtual channels of various broadcasting programs for each channel. That is, in the SD format broadcasting of a broadcasting station, for example, four broadcasting programs can be multiplexed and transferred through virtual channels 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 and 11-4 related to a channel 11. However, only one of the four virtual channels is selected and displayed on a screen of a receiver.
Four virtual channels existing per channel in the SD format broadcasting cannot be simultaneously displayed on one screen at one time, and only one selected channel can be displayed on one screen at one time, so that in order to select and determine a desired broadcasting channel, each of the virtual channels must be selected and displayed on the screen, and then it must be determined whether the displayed channel is a desired, broadcasting program or not.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a channel selection method in which four virtual channel broadcastings are simultaneously displayed on one screen-in an SD format broadcasting of an ATV system, to easily select a desired one from the four virtual channel broadcastings.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a channel selection method in which four virtual channel broadcastings are simultaneously displayed on one screen in the form of still images and the broadcasting of a selected channel is displayed in the form of a moving image, in an SD format broadcasting of an ATV system, to easily select a desired one from the four virtual channel broadcastings.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a channel selection apparatus in which four virtual channel broadcastings are simultaneously displayed on one screen in an SD format broadcasting of an ATV system, to easily select a desired one from the four virtual channel broadcastings.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a channel selection apparatus in which four virtual channel broadcastings are simultaneously displayed on one screen in the form of still images and broadcasting of a selected channel is displayed in the form of a moving image, in an SD format broadcasting of an ATV system, to easily select a desired one from the four virtual channel broadcastings.
Accordingly, to achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, a channel selection method in virtual channel broadcasting defined by an SD format of an ATV system includes the steps of: a) simultaneously displaying a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in a received channel broadcasting signal on one screen, if the broadcasting of the received channel is an SD format broadcasting; b) selecting a desired one from the plurality of displayed virtual channel broadcasting signals; and c) displaying the broadcasting signal of the selected virtual channel on a full screen.
Preferably, the step a) includes the substeps of: a1) storing video data separated from the plurality of received virtual channel broadcasting signals in a memory; a2) format-converting the stored video data to the screen size divided into equal portions; and a3) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the equal portions into which the screen is divided.
It is also preferable that the step a3) includes the substeps of: a31) displaying the format-converted video data in the form of still images; and a32) displaying the image where a cursor is located in the form of a moving image.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, a channel selection apparatus in virtual channel broadcasting defined by an SD format of an ATV system includes a host processor which controls the operation of each element of the channel selection apparatus according to the reception of a broadcasting signal and a channel selection of a user; a transfer stream (TS) decoder which separates video data of a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in the received channel broadcasting signal and outputs the separated video data, if the received channel broadcasting is an SD format broadcasting; a memory which stores the video data separated by the TS decoder; a video decoder which restores video data of each of the virtual channels stored in the memory; a format converter which converts the format of the video data restored by the video decoder into a screen size divided into equal portions; a display which simultaneously displays the format-converted video data of each of the virtual channels on one screen; and an input unit which allows the selection of a desired one of the displayed broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels.
Preferably, the input unit moves a cursor on the screen to allow the selection of a desired broadcasting signal.
Preferably, the video decoder reads video data of the virtual channels stored in the memory, to restore the read video data in the form of still images, and restore video data of a virtual channel selected by the input unit in the form of a moving image, under the control of the host processor.
It is further preferable that the video decoder restores the video data corresponding to a cursor position on the screen under control of the host processor in the form of a moving image.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a channel selection apparatus in virtual channel broadcasting defined by an SD format of an ATV system includes: a host processor which controls the operation of each element of the channel selection apparatus according to the reception of a broadcasting signal and a channel selection of a user; a transfer stream (TS) decoder which separates video data of a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in the received channel broadcasting signal and outputs the separated video data, if the received channel broadcasting is an SD format broadcasting; a video decoder which restores the video data of each of the virtual channels output from the TS decoder; a memory which stores the restored video data; a format converter which converts the format of the video data restored by the video decoder into a screen size divided into equal portions; a display which simultaneously displays the format-converted video data of each of the virtual channels on one screen; and an input unit which allows the selection of a desired one of the displayed broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels.